Traitors for Christ

Joseph Winston

Sepember 17, 2006

Sermon

Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.1
We always reserve our worst punishments for the traitors among us. Female
traitors in England were burned at the stake until 1790. If properly executed, this
death was very painful. The executioner tied the condemned woman to a large
stake. Around her feet and her calves, he piled wood. Up her body, the execu-
tioner added small bundles of wood. Finally, he started the fire at her feet, which
would ultimately cause the prisoner to die. The punishment of men who commit-
ted treason was far worse. Until 1870, the punishment for treason in England was
hanging, drawing, and quartering. The condemned man was first dragged to the
place of execution. Next, he was hanged. But before the prisoner had a chance to
die, he was removed from the hangman’s noose. Drawing is the act of removing
1
Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians
1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3

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the victim’s private parts along with his intestines and then burning these organs
in the prisoner’s sight. This happened next. The living prisoner was quartered by
having his arms and legs removed. After the quartering, the man was beheaded.
Finally, the man’s body was put on display for all to see.
This type of punishment for treason was not limited to the English only. Until
1789, the French had a public form of execution for treason. The condemned
traitor was first tortured with red-hot pincers. Then the hand that committed the
crime was burned in liquid sulphur, molten lead, hot wax, and boiling oil. After
the ordeal with hot liquids, the prisoner’s four limbs were tied to four horses,
which then tore them off the traitor’s body. Finally, the prisoner would be burned
to death.
The most infamous form of execution for treason was crucifixion. This form
of punishment was used throughout the Roman Empire until the third century.
Like the other examples, crucifixion occurred in public. Christ’s execution was in
such a public place that the sign on the cross that said “King of the Jews” was
written in three languages: Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. The traitor’s arms were
either tied or nailed to a wooden crossbeam. This beam was raised high enough
so that the prisoner’s feet could not reach the ground and then the prisoner’s feet
were either tied or nailed to the post. In order to prolong the agony, a footrest was
often provided. On the cross, death would come in hours or even days.
Governments favored these extreme forms of execution since the combina-
tion of pain, public spectacle, and desecration of the body discouraged uprisings.
Pain alone is an effective deterrent. Nobody in their right mind would like to be

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subjected to being burned, drawn, or hung. Peer pressure has always been used
to keep people in line. If you saw someone die like this, not only would you tell
others about their horrible suffering but you would also try to keep people on the
straight and narrow. Until very recently, most Christians thought that a body had
to be buried whole so that God could raise the person. Therefore, an execution
that included either dismemberment or burning carried the criminal’s punishment
into eternity.
This attitude was certainly true in the England. During the reign of Henry the
VIII, dissection could only be performed on corpses of executed criminals because
the English Christians believed that when a body was cut open, the person would
not be given eternal life. Even today, Orthodox Christians teach that cremation
should be avoided in favor of the body being buried. As late as 1963, no Roman
Catholic in the world could be cremated and it was not until 1997, that a Roman
Catholic’s cremated remains could be brought into the nave for a Christian burial.
For about one hundred years, Lutherans have accepted cremation as a method of
burial since we teach that God can raise anyone that God wants. In fact, the first
modern crematorium in Helsinki, Finland was built in 1926 by group of Lutheran
congregations.
With this background on how and why traitors are put to death, we can now
turn to today’s Gospel Lesson. The author of Mark apparently has to deal with two
different executions. The first death by crucifixion is fairly obvious and we hear
about this death in today’s readings. Jesus tells us that four things will happen to
Him. First, He must undergo great suffering. Second, the wise of the world, the

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religious authorities, and the power-brokers will reject Him and His teachings.
Then they will kill Jesus. Finally, after His death, Jesus tells us that He will rise in
three days.
The second execution is slightly harder to find. Other writers along with a
Roman historian named Tacitus that lived between 56 and 117 give us some in-
formation about the other death. The Circus of Nero in Rome, begun by Caligula
and finally finished by Nero, was the first site of state-sponsored martyrdoms of
Christians in 65. Tacitus tells us that two years later in 67, the Emperor Nero com-
peted in a race. For added entertainment, Nero had Christians executed during this
event. Tacitus reports that Peter was one of those Christians who was killed that
day and he was executed by being hanged upside down on a cross.2
Governments have always understood that if you want to squelch a revolution,
you must brand its leaders as traitors and have them killed. In the Gospel according
to St. Mark, the official charge against Jesus was “the King of the Jews” (Mark
15:26). In the eyes of the world, Jesus is a traitor. The author of Mark has clearly
laid out the evidence for us. Rather than associating with the practically perfect
people of the world, Jesus lived with the broken and healed the sick. Instead of
supporting the beautiful people of the world, Jesus always selected the poor. Jesus
refused to limit God’s salvation to His own people, the Jews, because He reached
out to those who were not like Him. Jesus betrayed those who want to regulate the
people’s access to God. It is for these reasons why Jesus was killed.
2
The Annals, xv.45. This URL no longer works. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/
cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Ann.+15.44

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 Since Peter learned these teachings from the Master, he too must die.
The author of Mark also understands this basic law of the world and he wants
to say something completely different. In God’s eyes, Neither Jesus nor Peter is
a traitor. For the author of Mark, it is obvious that Jesus is not a traitor since His
Father supports what His Son is doing here on earth. However, Peter’s actions are
more problematic to explain. First of all, after Peter confesses that Jesus is the
Christ, Peter then criticizes Jesus’ teachings. Some time later in this Gospel, Peter
denies that he had any association with Jesus.
Many scholars think that the Gospel according to St. Mark was written during
the persecution brought on by Emperor Nero.3 Given this dating of the Gospel
along with the background of death among the Christians, one can understand
why it is so important that all Christians hear Jesus’ words,

If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and

take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their
life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the
sake of the gospel, will save it. (Mark 8:34-35)

That is exactly what Peter did. He followed Jesus to his death and in doing
so Peter lost his life. The promise that Peter heard from Jesus applies to us also;
those who die following Jesus will live forever.
Of course, Peter did not perfectly follow Jesus. A prime example is found in
today’s Gospel Lesson. Peter wanted to take God on a path that lead toward the
world’s death. When Jesus heard Peter’s plan, He plainly told Peter to get back
3
Some estimates have the Gospel being written sometime between 60 and 70 CE.

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in his proper place: behind Him. We also do not follow Jesus as we should. We
drag Jesus over to our corner and tell Him, “If you would just listen to my plan,
everything would be alright.” The problem with this statement is not that we want
to talk to Jesus by ourselves. Because if this was Peter’s sin, Jesus would have
never told us to pray alone (Matthew 6:6) Neither is the sin that we disagree with
God. Abraham, Moses, and even Jesus disagreed with God. Peter’s sin and our sin
is when we want Jesus to do our will instead of His.
When Peter sinned, Jesus referred Peter as “Satan.” This word means adver-
sary. When we want to impose our will onto God we become God’s opposition
or adversary. The Good News for Peter and for us is that Jesus does not abandon
Peter nor does He leave us. What Jesus wants us to do is to stop leading Him.
Jesus wants to be our leader because He can take everything that the world and
its power structures throw at us. When they try to tell us that we are not wanted
because we are broken, Jesus replies that God came to save not what was good
but what is defective. If the forces of this world show us that they desire the rich
and powerful, Jesus answers that God loves the poor and powerless. The world
also tries to tell us what to believe. They say, “Trust in our product and you will
be happy.” Jesus shows us how wrong this is. The corporations only want us for
what we can give them. When we are no longer profitable, we will be discarded.
When they finally have had enough, they will call us traitors and then they will
give us their worst form of punishment. They will take our lives away form us. In
some sad sick way, we have betrayed the world. We have not believed the lies that
they have told us. Instead, we have placed our trust in Jesus. Because of this, we

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will live forever.
“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”4

4
Philippians 4:7.